about us
History
Mathematics education has a long and distinguished history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since the establishment of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research in 1964, mathematics education faculty members have directed major research programs and have been centrally involved in mathematics education reform efforts and the publication of reform curricula. UW-Madison was the home for the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Research in Mathematics Education and Research in Mathematics and Science Education (1987-1995) and, more recently, the Department of Education National Center for Improving Student Learning and Achievement in Mathematics and Science (1995-2004).
Research
One major research focus has been on the development of students' mathematical concepts and problem solving. The development of early number, algebra, geometry, statistics and probability, and mathematical reasoning have been among the specific strands studied.
A second focus has been on classroom instruction, and faculty members have been instrumental in developing theory and studying how to connect research on students' mathematical thinking, research on teaching, and research on professional development of mathematics teachers. For example, the Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) professional development program grew out of research studying how to apply research on children's mathematical conceptions to teacher professional development and has been one of the most significant programs of research and professional development focused on the teaching of mathematics in elementary school.
A third major strand of research has focused on curriculum, assessment, and evaluation. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Henry Van Engel wrote an elementary mathematics curriculum, Patterns in Arithmetic, that was arguably a forerunner of the new mathematics movement of the 1960s. In the 1960s, Tom Romberg and Fred Weaver worked with the School Mathematics Study Group, which produced and studied the major reform curricula of that period. During the 1960s and 1970s, Tom Romberg, Jim Moser, John Harvey, Mary Lindquist and others created a research-based elementary mathematics program called Developing Mathematical Processes, which pioneered a problem solving, activity approach to teaching mathematics. Recently Tom Romberg, Jan de Lange, and others have developed a problem-based middle school mathematics program, Mathematics in Context, based on the Freudenthal Institute's theory of Realistic Mathematics Education. The materials developed in each of these curriculum projects were the basis for many investigations involving classroom instruction. For example, Mathematics in Context units were used to study classroom assessment practices.
A fourth strand of research concerned the use of technology in mathematics instruction. Henry Van Engel's elementary school curriculum materials included instruction via television, Fred Weaver and John Harvey conducted research on the use of calculators, and Vere deVault studied the use of computer programming in instruction.
Finally, the study of diversity and equity in mathematics education has been another significant research strand, and a number of faculty members (including Elizabeth Fennema, Walter Secada, and William Tate) have made significant contributions to scholarship in this area. UW-Madison is currently the home of the National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching focusing on Diversity in Mathematics Education.
Reform
Faculty members have also provided significant leadership in mathematics education reform efforts at the national level. In the 1980s Tom Romberg was chair of the NCTM commissions that produced Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics and Assessment Standards for School Mathematics, and Tom Carpenter was a member of the National Research Council committee that wrote Adding It Up. Tom Romberg was chair of NCTM's Research Advisory Committee that was responsible for starting the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education and the research presessions at the NCTM's annual meetings. In addition, two faculty members, Fred Weaver and Tom Carpenter, have served as editors of the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, and over the last 20 years faculty members have edited several dozen books on research in mathematics education including: Understanding Mathematics and Science Matters, Mathematics Classrooms that Promote Understanding, Mathematics Assessment and Evaluation, Standards-Based Mathematics Assessment in Middle School, Mathematics Teachers in Transition, New Directions for Equity in Mathematics Education, Classics in Mathematics Education Research. Faculty have also received recognition for their accomplishments and contributions to mathematics education; Tom Romberg and Elizabeth Fennema were both elected to the National Academy of Education and Tom Romberg and Tom Carpenter both received the NCTM Lifetime Achievement Medal.
The tradition of excellence and active programs of research continue today, with faculty research focusing on mathematical reasoning, early algebra, mathematics teacher education, and issues of equity and diversity.
